Chapter Fourteen

"Jenny."

"Charlie."

The young woman smiled, allowing her friend to hug her. "How's Luke? Is he okay?"

"I assume that's what you came to find out."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "I had hoped to go in pre-informed, but apparently not."

"Nope. Allow me to lead the way. Do you remember it?"

"Yes."

"Still, allow me to lead the way. May I hold your hand?"

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes again, she replied, "Sleeve."

"Wrist?"

"Deal."

Charlie flashed her a grin, taking her by the wrist and leading her through the college halls. Some students greeted him, and asked who Jenny was. "A friend of Luke's," was the answer.

Over the past two weeks, Jenny had paid more visits to Oxford University than she cared to count. It was for Luke's benefit, as (at Sky's feeble request) he continued his studies. Sky was still at Cardiff General. The virus still raged through her body. No cure had yet been found, though many had been tried.

A side-effect of her visits had been finding the friendship of Charles Davidson. She could imagine how he and Luke had become friends in the first place; the most likely scenario being that Luke had been alone and relatively friendless and Charlie had bothered him until they became friends.

When they met a young man with wavy locks of brown hair, Charlie dropped her wrist as though he'd been burned.

"Hey James," he smiled at the stranger.

"Hi Chaz," the young man – James – smiled back. Dark eyes met Jenny's. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jenny," she replied, offering a hand. "Luke's friend."

"You've come about his sister?" James enquired, shaking her hand. "Is she any better?"

"No. But she's no worse, either."

"Tell her I – well she doesn't know me. Tell her one of Luke's friends was asking after her."

"I will. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Jenny turned to Charlie, who had been staring suspiciously at her. "What?"

"I felt your pulse. That's what."

Jenny sighed, wondering if the light-hearted redhead would believe her. "I'll explain – just not here. Let's go to Luke."

Charlie nodded, his blue eyes slightly less judgemental as they set off again.

"Jenny," Luke beamed at the sight of her, hugging her quickly. "How's Sky?"

"The same. I'm sorry, Luke, we're doing everything we can. But we can't find anything."

"You said you'd explain," Charlie cut in, folding his arms.

Luke frowned, glancing between them. "What's going on?"

Jenny sighed, sitting on the bed. "He knows I'm not normal."

"Oh." He joined her on the bed. Charlie remained where he was, eyes silently asking for answers.

"Shall we tell him?" Jenny glanced at Luke. "I have retcon, but maybe we should try the truth."

"Okay."

The young Time Lady turned back to their mutual friend. "I'm not normal. And neither is Luke."

"He knew that. Well, not the extent of it, but you get my point."

"The same 'not normal' as you, though?" Charlie asked.

"No, but similar. Sky isn't normal either. Or Jack. And I don't work in a Tourist Office."

"Right."

"I'm an alien," Jenny continued, waiting cautiously for a reaction.

Charlie merely raised his eyebrows. "An alien?"

"Yeah."

"A space alien?"

"Yup."

"Cool!" he exclaimed, taking the revelation far better than Jenny would ever have believed. He pulled up a chair. "What are you?"

"Well, there was a race called the Time Lords, originating from the planet Gallifrey. They had two hearts, and great intelligence. They managed time. Fixed points. Glitches. Things like that. But there was a war, and my father was the only survivor. The last of the Time Lords."

"If only he—"

"The Doctor," Luke interrupted.

"What?"

"The Doctor," Jenny repeated. "That's his name. The only one he gives, anyway."

"If The Doctor is the last of the Time Lords, how are you here? Who's your mother?"

"I don't have one."

"What?"

"I don't have a biological mother," Jenny said. She could explain, and perhaps he would understand. "I was created from a machine. Progenation – reproduction from a single organism. You take Biology, right?"

He nodded.

"It takes a tissue sample, splits the Diploids into Haploids, recombines them in a completely new genetic code, and grows them."

"Into this crazy kid we all know and love," Luke finished.

Charlie nodded. "Interesting. So your father isn't the last of the Time Lords, then."

"He's the last Time Lord, and I'm the last Time Lady. The first to be originate outside of Gallifrey, I think."

"Originating where, exactly?"

"A planet called Messaline."

"What about you?" Charlie swivelled the chair to face Luke.

"I am human," he replied. "But I was created by a race called the Bane. Genetically engineered. I wasn't born. I've got no belly button; see," he lifted up his shirt to show the smooth expanse of skin, and no dent in the abdomen that humans usually had. "I never get sick, and I remember almost everything I see."

"No fair! No wonder you're so clever."

"You're outsmarted by us two, I'm afraid."

"Sorry, Chaz."

He rolled his eyes at them. "You mentioned Jack and Sky?"

"Jack is immortal," Jenny answered. "He's a fixed point in time. Long story there. And Sky's a Flesh Kind. They have their heart on the right side of their chest. That's all I really know about them. Sky used to be a bomb, and now she can cause energy fluctuations. She can't control them, though."

"Do you have a heart each side of your chest?"

"Yes," Jenny frowned.

"I hope you never break your ribs."

"Thanks for your concern, Chaz."

"It's genuine concern!" he continued. "You'd turn into a science experiment or something if anyone found out you had two hearts."

"I know. That's why I didn't tell you at first."

There was silence, broken by Charlie asking, "Where do you work?"

"Huh?"

"You said—"

"Oh yeah," Jenny cut across him, remembering. "It's an organisation called Torchwood."

"And what do you do?"

"Stop the human race from discovering aliens before their time. Protect Cardiff from the space-time rift down the middle of it. Stuff like that."

"So you save the world?"

"I suppose," Luke replied. Jenny nodded in agreement with the statement.

"Awesome."

"Jenny!" Rani exclaimed in surprise, having just opened the front door of 13 Bannerman Road to the Time Lady. "Come in! Maria's here. We were just about to have tea. Do you want a cup?"

She smiled, stepping into the house. "That'd be great. No Clyde?"

"No, he's with his grandmother. Did you go to see Luke?"

"Yeah," Jenny replied, taking off her coat. "He's okay. Sky's much the same – no better, no worse – but I was hoping I might be able to ask Mr Smith a few questions that might be able to help."

"Sure, I'll get him out in a bit."

They walked into the kitchen, where Maria stood, pouring tea into mugs.

"Hi Jenny," she smiled. "I heard you talking, so—" she gestured to the three mugs. "How's Sky doing?"

"She's not bad," Jenny replied, sitting at the table. "She's brave, our Sky."

"Yeah, she is," Rani agreed, rummaging in the cupboard for biscuits.

"How are you three?" Jenny queried, taking a digestive.

"Oh we're fine," Maria smiled. "Same as ever. Live. Find some way of making money. Save the world. Rinse. Repeat."

"Is K9 here?"

"Yup. K9!"

With a whir of wheels against the floor, the robot dog appeared. "Yes mistress."

"Hey, K9!" Jenny grinned, patting the dog's head.

"Greetings, mistress. How may I assist you?"

She laughed. "I'm fine just yet, thanks."

"Do you think the virus could've been caused by aliens?" asked Maria, her brow creasing.

Jenny shook her head. "No. We made sure she didn't come in …" realisation struck her. She set her mug down on the table. "Maria, you're a genius!"

"What?" the young woman asked, bewildered.

Jenny stood up and climbed the stairs as slowly as she could will herself to. Doing so gave Maria and Rani a chance to catch up with her.

"What's going on?" Rani asked. "Did you figure something out?"

"If the virus is alien, then there's only one alien that could have done it," Jenny explained.

"How do you know?" Maria frowned, pushing open the door to the attic.

"There was a new arrival, not long before she first got sick."

"Mr Smith!" Rani called to the bare expanse of wall that hid the computer. "I need you!"

The wall split in two, revealing the supercomputer. "Hello Rani. Maria. Jenny. How may I help you?"

"Pull up all UNIT files on the Unknown," Jenny ordered, reaching into her pocket as she did so. Martha had taken a sample of Sky's blood for testing, and had given half of it to Jenny. She stared at the vial of crimson liquid before stepping towards the computer. "Can you analyse this for DNA from the Unknown?"

A tray popped out in answer. She set the vial onto it.

'ANALYSING …' appeared on the screen in large letters.

"If you don't know anything about the Unknown, how are you going to cure Sky?"

"… Good point."

"20% DNA match," Mr Smith pronounced.

"Can you search your databases for a match for the Unknown?" Jenny asked next, running a hand through her hair. Maria could be right; it could be impossible to cure Sky.

Hundreds of pictures flashed across the screen, the word 'SEARCHING …' covering them. A picture of the Unknown appeared, the 'SEARCHING …' changing to 'MATCH FOUND'.

"The Rheugal," Mr Smith said. "Of the planet Zon."

"What are they?"

"Peaceful creatures. They open their planet to visitors from all over the galaxy."

"But?"

"Upon arrival on Zon, the visitors are decontaminated, so not to spread disease on the planet. The Rheugal you currently hold had such a function."

"Why did they come to Earth?" Rani asked.

"To invite humankind to visit their planet. They arrived at the wrong time period. The fault of the rift."

"But why is it affecting Sky this way?" Jenny asked. "Surely it should be harmless."

"The Rheugal mistook her for a human. The wrong decontamination process can be fatal."

"Fatal?" Jenny echoed, hearts thumping. "Can we save her?"

"Only the Rheugal can undo what she has done. She will right her wrong once she understands that she has done it."

"But we can't communicate," Jenny said, realising once more. "I've tried every language I know. So has Jack."

"UNIT has translators," said Rani all of a sudden, looking excited.

"Can you call Martha?" Jenny asked the computer.

"Certainly."

The dialling tone, and then Martha's voice sounded, "Hello?"

"Hi Martha!" the three girls called.

"Who's there?" Martha asked. "Am I on speaker?"

"Sort of," said Maria.

"I'm at Bannerman Road with Maria and Rani. Mr Smith called you."

"Oh. Hi guys."

"I found out what's wrong with Sky," Jenny said. "It was the Unknown. But I can't communicate with her. I don't know what language she speaks."

"I can help with that," Martha said. "Stay where you are, I'll be there in twenty."

She hung up.

"Okay then."

"Update UNIT files on the Unknown, please," said Jenny, walking out of the room.

As promised, Martha arrived within half an hour, a hesitant smile on her face. "You can cure Sky?"

"I can cure Sky," Jenny nodded.

"No time to lose, then. I'll drive you back."

So yeah. I hope that that's plausible and everything. I'm not very good at writing clever plot things.